A Sad Day in Central by Mustang
by FMAChicks
Summary: A terrible thing had occur in Central. The Fullmetal Alchemist is gone. What will the FullMetal cast do? read and find out. Told in Roy's POV.


A Sad Say In Central

The usual busy and loud streets of Central were still and gloomy. Anybody who came to the city that day would think it was a ghost town. The day was and overcast and a light drizzle fell from the sky matching the town's mood perfectly.

The air around Central Headquarters was deathly still. All the soldier had their heads hung in silent remorse. Inside the building, Colonel Roy Mustang sat staring at his desk with an unreadable expression. His desk, as always, was stacked with paperwork that was due the next day. Normally he would be rushing to get them done, but that was not the case today. Instead his eyes were locked on a piece of paper at the top of a stack in front of him.

He had read the same piece of paper countless of times since he had received it two days ago, and yet he still couldn't tear his eyes away from it. He read it again, hoping against hope that somehow he had misread it or that it was some kind of cruel, sick joke.

'Dear Colonel Roy Mustang,

We regretfully inform you of the untimely death of Major Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist. He died on the morning of November 9th 1912, when he was inspecting a mine and it caved in due to misplaced explosives. We all will remorse the loss of this fine soldier and will miss him greatly.'

No, the horrible words had not changed and no Edward came busting in laughing and calling him a cry baby. Still unable to tear his eyes away, he finally shielded them with his hand.

He didn't know how long he sat there like that, but eventually the silence was broken by a light knock on the door. He grunted in response and the door slowly opened to revel a sober looking Hawkeye. She stared at him for a few seconds, not wanting to be the one to break the solemn silence.

Finally she lowered her eyes to the floor and whispered, "It's time, sir."

Without looking at her, Roy stood abruptly and grabbed his black trench coat and hat. He swiftly walked past Hawkeye without any response. Hawkeye stared after him with a worried expression before following him.

She had to almost run to keep up with Roy swift pace as they walked over to where Havoc was waiting by the car. No one spoke a word as they got in the car. Roy slammed bis door shut, and Havoc and Hawkeye shared a look before getting into the car themselves.

The ride was also silent, each passenger too busy handling their grief in their own way.

Havoc looked like he had recently been crying, but had tried to cover it up to cover it up. He was failing and even a few tears escaped.

Hawkeye was trying to be her usual cool and calm self, but was failing miserably. Her eyes were watering up and her hands were trembling slightly.

Roy was staring out the window, watching the world pass them by seeming oblivious to the fact that a brilliant mind was forever gone. He still had the stony, emotionless face that he had had on since the first time he had read the letter.

In what seemed far too soon in Roy's opinion, they arrived at the cemetery, and they slowly walked to join the other people gathered around the freshly dug grave.

Since leaving the headquarters Roy's attention had been on his inner thoughts about the death and, his eyes had not really focused on anything. When they neared the grave site, he let his eyes wonder around at all the faces that were here.

The first group of people that he focused on were his subordinates, Furey, Falman, Breda, along with Armstrong.

They were talking quietly to each other with sad expressions. The intensity of their grief was shown in the lack of their usual joking around. Even Armstrong didn't go into any of his usual speeches and there no trace of the dreaded sparkling speeches. Roy's eyes traveled over the faces of the other people there until they finally settled on Alphonse.

The boy stood away from everyone else, his gaze fixed on the grave. Even though he was stuck in that suit of armor so no expressions could be formed on his face, anyone who came near him could sense the despair and hopelessness that surround him. Roy returned his gaze to the ground as a bitter and not all that unfamiliar feeling of guilt swelled up inside his chest.

Lately, Ed had been going on one dangerous mission after another, determined to fine a way to restore his brother to his human self.

Roy had seen how tired Ed was getting, even though Ed would never admit it. Roy had sent him on that mission because it was a routine mission. Go in, make a few notes, a few observations, and then come back. He had did it because he knew that Ed would never take a vacation.

Who would have ever thought that the great Fullmetal Alchemist would be killed while on such a mission? The irony of the situation was not unobserved by Mustang.

He was broken out of his dark thoughts by someone nudging his shoulder. He looked up into the eyes of Hawkeye. She nodded on the direction of his back and he turned and looked. The funeral precession was making their way slowly toward the grave.

He hesitated before walking over to stand by Al who was now at the foot of the grave. He heard a small noise come from Al at the sight of the coffin. A new wave of guilt washed over him, so strong that it made him flinch.

The boy had gone though so much and now he had to bury his bother. Who ever was playing fate had a really sick sense of humor to put this kid though so much.

Al's gaze was now stuck on the coffin the group of soldiers were carrying. As the soldiers continued their slow walk, Roy's mind wondered back to the first time he had seen Al after the accident.

Flashback

Roy sat in his office lazily doing he paperwork. He would not even be doing it in the first place if it was not for Hawkeye. He really wished that she would stop threatening him with her gun.

"If only she wasn't such a good shot," he grumbled under his breath, conveniently forgetting that her perfect shooting had saved him on more then one occasion. He looked up at the clock, wondering how long he had before he could leave to go home. According to the clock, it was right before lunch.

Roy let out a groan and closed his eyes. He still had a half a day left before it would be time to go home. He shifted himself more comfortably in his chair before reaching for the next thing on his desk. It was a sealed envelope that was from the city he had sent Fullmetal to. It was probably just Edward complaining about Roy sending him on such a boring mission.

Letting out a sigh he gave the clock a glare as if all the days troubles was its fault. He slowly started to open the letter. He got it half open when a idea struck him.

Right now, Hawkeye would be getting him and herself some lunch before coming here to watch him. But, what if, he 'forgot' about that and went out to get something. Then while he was out he could 'accidentally' got lost on the way to Headquarters. A sly smile formed on his face as h e grabbed his jacket. He hesitated and looked at the letter.

Something told him to open it and read it right now, but Hawkeye might come back and he would not get another chance of escape for today.

In all honesty he had a bad feeling about the letter and he looked at it warily. He frowned and scolded himself. Why should he be scared of a letter. It was a sign that he had been working too hard and needed a break.

He determinedly walked out of the office, leaving the letter on the desk.

Later Roy was walking down the street feeling proud of his cunning escape from work and Hawkeye's gun. He was so busy basking in his victory and freedom that he failed to notice where he was going.

When he finally looked up he saw that he was at the train station. He wondered briefly what would compel him to come here, but ignored the thought. He turned around intending to return to the Headquarters. He stopped when he saw a familiar figure sitting on the stairs.

Alphonse Elric sat alone, staring into space. The site made a strange feeling of uneasiness settle over Roy but he shook it off and walked over to him. He wanted to know why the boy was here because if he were here then Edward would be here to, and he was not due back for another week.

As he neared Al, he noticed that, although the armor could not show emotion, despair and sadness seemed to radiated off of him. The strong feeling made Mustang paused and the uneasiness grew to a sickening foreboding.

He sat next to the boy who had yet to notice him. He made himself comfortable and starting to ask the boy his questions. "So why are you here, Edward was not due back until next week?"

The boy did not even acknowledge him at first and this made Roy uncomfortable. He had never seen Alphonse like this. Finally, Al gave him a odd stare which made Roy worry worst.

He tried again to make the boy talk, "So did something go wrong with the mine?"

Al made a disbelieving noise and continued to stare him in the eyes.

Now Roy was really confused. Why was Alphonse acting like this? Why did he seem so sad and lost? And where was Edward? Why did he leave his brother alone when Alphonse was so clearly upset?

Roy looked around but there was no sign of Ed. That was when he remembered that the last train had left over two hours ago and the next one would not arrive for half an hour. He looked again for Ed but there was still no sign of him. Edward would never leave Al alone for this long without making sure that he was at the dorms first.

He looked at Al again and asked "Al where is Edward?"

Al looked at him a moment more before turning his gaze to his feet and watched Roy through the corner of his eyes.

"You don't know?" he asked, trying desperately to keep his voice calm.

When Roy shook his head, Al looked confused. " But they sent you a letter, didn't you get it?"

Again Roy shook his head.

Alphonse sighed, "Of course you didn't," he said with an edge to his voice, "you never do your paperwork."

Now guilt was mixed in with his confusion. But why? What was so important about that letter? And what did all of this have to do with Edward? Roy was about to voice his question when Al started to talk again.

"Brother died three days ago," he said so abruptly and quietly that Roy almost didn't catch it.

When it registered, Roy froze in shock. He couldn't have heard right. Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist was dead?

His head reeled from the shock and he was suddenly very glad that he was sitting down. He barely heard Alphonse as he went on.

"Brother had been complaining all day about how the mission was a complete waste of our time. He...he," his voice cracked and he paused to collect himself before continuing. "He told me to just stay st the hotel, that there was no reason for both of us to go. He said that he be there and back in less then an hour. He promised that he would, but he wasn't." He fell silent and Roy could hear sobbing sounds coming from him.

That sound of complete hopelessness and despair broke the trance that Roy had fallen into. He got up and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. He then made his voice soft and hid all the shock, confusion, and guilt that he felt. "Come on Alphonse, we need to get you back to headquarters."

When the boy didn't move Roy sighed and tried again. "Alphonse it's going to rain soon, and if you stay out here you might rust. I'm sure that Edward wouldn't want that so come on."

Finally Al got to his feet and mechanically followed the colonel. Roy wanted to rush back to HQ and find the letter to see what it said, and possibly fry the one who set it on his desk instead of handing it to him personally, but he kept his pace slow for the sake of the young boy behind him who had just lost everything.

In what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached Headquarters and headed straight for Mustang's office. Along the way they ran into Hawkeye who started to yell at the colonel about responsibility, but he walked right past her without really seeing her. His pace increased as he reached the door to his office.

He reached his desk and his eye immediately fell on the envelope that he was going to open before he had left.

He glared at it for awhile before grabbing it and ripping it open. He looked at the word and saw that it was indeed a notice of the death of Edward Elric.

He collapsed in his chair and stared at the undeniable proof that Edward was dead.

End Flashback

Roy was broken out of his memory by the sound of a trumpet signifying that they had started to lower the coffin in the ground. Roy slowly took off his hat in respect. He winced visibly when he heard a whimper from Alphonse.

Suddenly Al started to shout, "No, wait, he can't be dead!" He ran beside the grave still shouting, "We're all that we've got and Brother would never leave me so it's impossible. He can't be dead. He can't be." He made a motion to jump in the grave but a hand shot out and caught him just in time.

The hand belonged to Hughes who looked at Al with sympathy. "He's gone Al. Please calm down. Acting like this isn't helping anyone," Hughes said soothingly.

Al jerked away from him and yelled at him, "Calm down! Calm down! Brother is dead. He was all that I had had left, how can I calm down? He was all that I had left...," his voice faded and he stayed silent.

Winry came and got Al. She walked him a little away from the grave, talking to him soothingly, and the the funeral went on without any more interruptions.

After most everyone was gone Roy put his hat back on and turn to leave. As he turned he caught a glimpse of Alphonse sitting beside a tree next to the grave.

He couldn't find it in himself to leave the boy by himself like this. Even he had no right to try and comfort him, being the one that sent his brother to his death, maybe he could offer some kind of small support to the boy.

He signaled to Hawkeye to go on without him before slowly moving to stand next the boy. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Alphonse finally spoke.

"I should have went with him," he said emotionlessly. "I had a bad feeling when he said it was a routine check and that I should stay at the hotel, but I ignored it. If I hadn't then I would have been there and I could have helped or at least I could have died with him so I wouldn't be here alone."

Roy looked at him in understanding, "You shouldn't blame yourself Al. There were so many things that could have prevented this. The mine supervisor could have had the proper emergency teams ready, and I could have given into Edward's complaining and he would be at the Central Library right now...," he paused before continuing. "The point is that Edward would not want you acting like this, wanting to die. Look at all that he gave up so that you could live and to look for a way to get your body back. He wouldn't like to see you like this. He would want you to go on with your life and live it happily."

Al looked at him and said, "Thank you, Colonel." They stood staring at the grave for few more minutes, each thinking of the time they had spent with the Alchemist and the time that they would never have together.

They were so deep in their thoughts that they failed to notice a figure in a trench coat walked towards them. He stopped beside Roy and glanced at the grave and then looked back at the two sad faces.

"Who died?" the figure asked abruptly, breaking the two out of their musings. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Roy dismissed it.

When Al stayed quiet Roy decided to answer. "A highly skilled Alchemist, a devoted brother, and a wonderful friend," he said solemnly.

"Hey that's pretty good, you should become a poet," came a familiar sarcastic reply but again Roy ignored it.

Instead he turned on the figure intending to tell him off for just walking in on a funeral and asking all these insensitive questions, but the words died in his throat.

The figure looked at the headstone more closely and gasped. "What the hell?!?" he exclaimed taking a couple of steps back.

Al being the good person he was turned immediately and said, "Sir, are you alright?" When his eyes fell on the man he stood like Mustang in shock.

In front of them stood Edward Elric. He was looking at the headstone in horror, looking just like Roy felt.

Ed frantically pointed at the headstone and shouted, " What kind of sick joke is this?!?"

They all stood looking at each other and Roy vaguely wondered if finally had gone crazy like Hawkeye had always predicted him to. Al was the first of them to move. He walked over to Edward and poked him again and again.

"Brother," he said causiously, "are you really here."

"Of course I'm really here. What kind of question is that," he said, "and stop poking me." Al stopped and continued to looked at his brother in amazement.

"Now, why does that thing have my name on it?" he demanded pointing again at the grave. But once again he was ignore.

Alphonse gave a squeak of absolute happiness before engulfing his brother on a suffocating hug. "I knew it! You're not dead! Everyone said that you were, but I knew that you couldn't be," he continued to ramble on until Ed finally interrupted him.

Uh... Al... can't... breath...," he gasped out, struggling against the hold,

Al dropped him quickly and mumbled an embarrassed 'sorry' and stepped back.

Ed picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off, "What do you mean 'dead'? I'm not dead, I'm standing right here."

Suddenly the two brothers started to shout at each other at once. Edward was ranting at Al about thinking that he was dead and even having a funeral, and Alphonse was yelling about how happy he was that Edward was alive.

Roy realized that this was going to go on for awhile so he decided to end it himself.

He cleared his throat loudly but was ignored. He tried again, louder with the same results. "Excuse me," he shouted at the two but was again ignored.

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He was Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and , damn it, he would not be ignored.

"FULLMETAL!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The two boys stopped yelling and looked at him with wide eyes.

Roy calmly straightened his collar and smoothed back his hair then calmly said, "There is a simple explanation for all this if you would just be quiet and listen for a second." He paused and when he wasn't interrupted he continued.

"When the mine collapsed, the wreckage was so bad that everyone, even Alphonse, believed that you were dead. And everything turned out alright despite that, as always, you, Edward, have caused the state many problems."

He frowned as a sudden thought past through his mind and mumbled to himself, "Of course, now that everyone is going to find out that you are really alive, there is no telling how much paperwork I am going to have to do." A shudder passed through him as he thought about the long days he would have to spend in his office doing said paperwork with Hawkeye hovering over his shoulder, and she will not be happy about his last cunning escape from the paperwork three days ago.

After hearing that the Colonel would have to do more paperwork, Edward did not seem so upset. He was about to make a comment when Al interrupted him.

"Brother, how can you still be alive? The mine was completely destroyed. There is no way anyone could have survived!" AL asked.

Edward got a well known smug look on his face and stated proudly, " Come on Al, you know that I'm no normal person."

"That's for sure," Roy mumbled.

Edward went on as if he didn't hear him, " I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist!" He struck a pose as if expecting the fact to amaze everyone.

Al blinked twice and decided to ignore the frighteningly familiar pose. "But how did you do it, Brother?" he wined more than asked this time.

"Well when the mine blew, I was at the back of it and the floor caved in. Luckily I fell into some kind of abandoned shaft. Unfortunately, the hole I fell from was covered up with rubble. I had to transmute my way slowly to prevent anymore cave-in," Edward explained as if he was talking about the wheather.

Suddenly Al engulfed Ed in another bone-crushing hug, while sobbing. "I thought you were dead, Brother. I thought that you had left like mom did and that I was goin got be stuck here all alone!"

Edward smiles sadly adn said, "Come on Al, you know I would never do that to you. You're stuck with me until the end." They both started to laugh.

Roy decided that he should give the two brothers time alone. Besides he had to go and inform everyone that Edward was alive, though it would be funny to see Breda, Falman, and Fury runnign aroud saying that Ed's ghost was haunting Central. Then he could delay the mountain of paperwork that will result from all this.

The image of how Hawkeye would react if he did that made him throw the idea away imediately. This time he doughted that hw would be able to find an excuse to get out of it. He heaved a heavey sigh and tured to walk towards Headquaters.

Later that day Roy sat his desk just as he predicted, doing tons of paperwork. He leaned back in his chair and let out the thousandth sigh since eariler that morning after the funeral. At the rate that this was going, he was going to be trapped here for days.

He heard hte door poen and immeadiately sat up and acted if he had been working the whole time in case it was Hawkeye.

"What's wrong Colonel? You scared the Luitent is going to catch you slacking off?" a mocking voice asked from the door.

Roy rolled his eyes and asked tiredly, "What are you doing here, Fullmetal?"

I came to give my report," Ed replied easily. He walked up to the chair in front of the desk and plopped down in it.

"Could you make it fast,Fullmetal? Unlike some people, I have alot of work to do." Edward snickered a little but gave his report anyway.

When he was done he looked at the Colonel and saw that Roy was still signing papers, giving no sign that he had even been listening.

Edward frowned n annoyance. He hated when the Colonel did stuff like this. But the frown was soon replaced by an evil grin as an idea formed in his head.

He stood up and streched. "Well, I guess I better go, Al is waiting for me outside. Bye Colonel."

Roy gave an absent minded nod in response.

Edward started to turn toward the door, but his foot caught on the chair and he tripped. He fell forward and landed on top of the Colonel's desk and result was an explosion of paper.

Roy blinked, his hand still in postion to sign another paper. When what had happen finally clicked in his head, he exploded too.

"FULLMETAL! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT YOU CLUMBSY OAF!?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG THIS IS GOING TO TAKE TO CLEAN UP!?! I OUGHT TO BURN YOU TO CRISP RIGHT NOW!"

He raised his right hand ready to snap, literally, and Edward looked around for some proper cover. When he couldn't find any, he was begining to think that maybe Alphonse shouldn't have that headstone destoyed after all.

Suddenly, a hand shot out and caught Mustang's hand in mid-snap. Roy looked at his hand, annoyed that someone had stopped him.

"Now, now Roy," Hughes said calmingly, "there is no need to tourch Ed over this. It was just an accident, right Ed?"

"Yah, don't you think you overreacted a little, Colonel?" Ed asked innocently, but from the smug look on his face, Roy knew that it had been no acciedent.

He growled and raised his left hand, but before he could do anything, Hughes smacked him on the back of the head. He turned his glare onto Hughes who stood with the same innocent look that Edward had given him.

While Roy's attention was on Hughes, Edward tried to quietly slip out of the room. It almost work, but before he got to the door his foot landed on a strangely strategically placed fruit peel on the floor (AN: this is an inside joke between me and Ed.) and he fell for the second time in two minutes.

He turned his attention back to Edward, intending to make him clean up the mess and saw him scrambling up from the floor. Before Roy could catch him though, he was out the door.

Roy got up and started on the task of picking up and reorganizing the papers. He sensed someone staring at him and looked up and saw Hughes sitting in his chair, waiting expectantly.

"Did you want something?" he asked in an errily calm voice.

"Well now that your not busy," Hughes said, either ignoring Roy's tone or completely oblivious to it.

In a flash, Hughes was kneeling beside Roy with an arm full of pictures that appeared put of no where. "These are the latest pictures of my darling Elisa! I took them just yesterday/ Isn't she just the most presious thing in the world. She the cutest thing you have ever saw in you r life, isn't she. It's alright you don't have to say it, I know,I know..."

This went on for awhile and in each moment that passed, Roy's anger grew more and more. With all these interruptions, he would never get this work done. He will be stuck in the office until the day that he died. That would mean no promotion, no becoming Fuhrer, and ,worst of all, no miniskirts.

"I bet there isn't anything in the world that you would rather be doing right now then looking at these beautiful pictures of my angel of a daughter, is there? Roy? Roy, why are you looking at me like that? Is your eye okay? Cause it's twinching. No wait, Roy. Now let's not be rash. There's no need to raise your hand like that Roy. I'm sorry! No please wait!"

SNAP


End file.
